Philly Schools Sacrificed on the Altar of Pennsylvania Budget Compromise
Pennsylvania lawmakers are ready to help all students across the Commonwealth – if only they can abuse, mistreat and trample some of them.
Which ones? The poor black and brown kids. Of course!
That seems to be the lesson of a school code bill passed with bipartisan support by the state Senate Thursday.
The legislation would require the Commonwealth to pick as many as 5 “underperforming” Philadelphia schools a year to close, charterize or just fire the principal and half the staff. It would also allow non-medically trained personnel to take an on-line course before working in the district to treat diabetic school children. And it would – of course – open the floodgates to more charter schools!
It’s a dumb provision, full of unsubstantiated facts, faulty logic and corporate education reform kickbacks. But that’s only the half of it!
The bill is part of a budget framework agreed to by Governor Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled legislature necessary to finally pass a state-wide spending plan. The financial proposal has been held hostage for almost half a year!
The major sticking point has been school funding. Democrats like Wolf demand an increase. Republicans refuse. And the worst part is that the increase would only begin to heal the cuts the GOP made over the last four years.
Republicans just won’t clean up their own mess.
They slashed public school budgets by almost $1 billion per year for the last four years with disastrous consequences. Voters who could make little headway against a Philly Schools Sacrificed on the Altar of Pennsylvania Budget Compromise | gadflyonthewallblog: